Epona's Pastures

Small images of Epona have been found in stables and barns all over Europe. A niche would be cut in the walls and a little statue of the Goddess would be found often garlanded with roses and sometimes with a mare’s head. The German legions made plaques depicting her in human form with a foal or feeding foals. In imagery Epona is normally portrayed as a woman either sitting on, or surrounded by, horses.

She may have been another form of the Great Mother Goddess as in some cases she is also often portrayed with a Cornucopia, a symbol of the land and fertility. She has also be portrayed as carrying keys, which may indicate a role in the underworld and accompanied with birds, often symbols of a happy otherworld. The Uffington White Horse may be one of the largest remaining monuments to Epona in the British Isles although it is not known for sure that it was carved by those who worshiped Epona.

Epona is known to be one of a very few Gaulish deities whose names were spread to the rest of the Roman Empire. This seems to have happened because Roman cavalry units stationed in Gaul followed her and adopted her as their Patroness. This may have started because many of the cavalry troops were conscripted from Gaul as they were superb horsemen. From Gaul the Romans took Epona with them including to Rome where she was given her own feast day on the 18 December. They worshipped her as Epona Augusta or Epona Regina and invoked her on behalf of the Emperor. She even had a shrine in the barracks of the Imperial Bodyguard.